Sign up or log in to save this to your schedule and see who's attending!

By most accounts, Tom Riddle and Draco Malfoy are just not good people. While the two do make a lot of poor choices where they could have avoided them and have done some truly reprehensible things, this panel takes a look at the question of how much the two boys' upbringings had to do with the adults they became and the choices they made. We will take a look at the long term effects and wide scope that childhood abuse and neglect can have and examine popular ideas of sociopathy versus the more complex reasons that can lie behind the behaviors we see in Riddle and Malfoy. Rowling’s masterful backgrounds and the histories behind Harry’s enemies provide a rich environment to explore the ideas of good, evil, and whether the two are truly so black and white.

Dani has been doing this for 5 years now. What exactly “this” is may be ambiguous, but involves having been a Slytherin since the age of 9 and this zany Leaky/Geeky community in every way possible, from writing for personal and help blogs on the topic of the con to volunteering... Read More →

Sara Paulson is an early childhood education major at University of Arkansas, where she also plays that pesky muggle sport, Quidditch, and sometimes is on the sidelines of a game with her bassoon. When she's not busy with school or work, you can find her watching Pokemon or wrocking... Read More →